Come Drive With Us: Part 2 -- Street Rodder Road Tour

It's time to change the oil and get ready for the long haul ahead. It doesn't matter whether you signup for one, two, or more legs of this years Road Tour it is a sure bet that you are going to enjoy yourself. Some of this year's entrants have already signed up for more than one leg guaranteeing them a vacation to remember.

The staff at Boyd Coddington Hot Rods is continually working-on and prepping the Outlaw 'glass '34 Chevy coupe. The Roadster Shop chassis is ready to go with its Heidt's four-wheel-independent suspension, and the GM Performance Parts Ramjet 350 with the Gear Star 200-4R tranny are also in place and ready (well, almost) for the drive. Time is getting close to have the coupe up on its "Wheel Vintiques" and off to the first event in Ocean City, Maryland but right now the exhaust is being fitted at Doug's headers and the remainder of the exhaust system is a go.

There will be plenty of rodding fun at the various events that are slated for attendance but the real stories may very well come from those rodding "names" that come along for the drive. Have you always wanted to ask former Street Rodder Editor Tom Vogele what it was like back in the day? How about how come he hired Brennan as the current editor? (That question alone should take you "deep" into the night around the ol' campfire with beverage in hand!) What about all those questions you wished you could ask someone on curing your street rods little woes? Well, SRM Tech Editor Ron Ceridono will make the Vintage Air leg from San Antonio to the L.A. Roadster Father's Day Show in Pomona, California and will be on hand each day and at the evening stops to pull up a chair and answer those questions; although you may have to pry him away from the buffet line!

You want to ask the pros how did they do that? Well, the likes of Bobby Alloway, Boyd Coddington, Pete Chapouris, Barry Lobeck, Darrel Zip, and others will be on the various Road Tour legs and you will get your opportunity. (Editor's note: One of my first questions to Bobby Alloway will be if he can tell the difference between a '37 and a '38 Chevy? I am gonna get in trouble for that one!) Other personalities who will add to the party feeling on any one of the tours will be the likes of Jack Chisenhall and Rick Love of Vintage Air, and Frank Streff of SO-CAL Speed Shop in Phoenix, Arizona, and Magoo (he's one of those older rodders who was famous a bunch of decades ago) who should have plenty of stories on what's wrong (and right) with today's street rods.

(Editor's note: Magoo may have a comment or two about ye ol' editor in his younger days, that alone should make the attending well worth it.) The real fun of traveling in a street rod cross-country starts at the time everyone traveling together becomes good friends and you can ask that one question that has been stored in the back of your mind for years.

There are some other points that have been finalized and should prove fun such as the Pima Air and Space Museum on Tuesday, June 13th for those on Leg 2 (Vintage Air) out of San Antonio, Texas onto Father's Day show in Pomona, California. The next night should also prove interesting as the leg stops for dinner at Barry White's Street Rods in Corona, Calif., and right across the street is Marcel's Metal Shaping. It will be fun to see what new cars are being built from scratch at both shops.

On Wednesday, June 21st Leg 3 of the Road Tour will stop at Zipper Motors and will be treated to dinner and a great 26-mile nighttime drive through Monument Valley which is across the "street" from Zipper Motors. Remember that the next day the lunch stop will be at Streamline in Denver, Colo., with dinner in Pueblo at the NSRA Kickoff Party.

The fourth leg of the Road Tour should also prove to be very interesting as it heads from the Blue Suede Cruise in Norwalk, Ohio to the NSRA Nats in Louisville, Kentucky. However, it's the excitement that will be generated at the vintage drags with four Nostalgia Drag Racing Classes; eight Nostalgia Super Stockers; 12 AA/Gassers; four alcohol burning Nostalgia Funny Cars; 10 nitro methane burning front engine fuel dragsters; Scott Shockley's twin engine jet powered 1957 Chevy truck; and, Big Daddy Don Garlits driving an early version of "Swamp Rat"! Oh did we mention that there will also be a Saturday night rock-n-roll show? This leg of the tour is going to start off with the proverbial bang.

Later on in the summer the sixth leg which runs from the magazine offices to Sacramento, Calif., will stop by Roy Brizio Street Rods and Sanderson Headers. For those of you not aware both shops are literally side-by-side and share the same parking lot. How's that for one stop shopping?

Well, there is another dose of what you might expect from this summer Road Tour. It is all about having fun for yourself, family and with your street rod. While the sites will be great and memorable the "real" stories may very come from the rodding heroes that will be in attendance on each of the legs. That's where the "rest of the story" will be told. For more information on the Road Tour you can check the ad in this months issue, call the Road Tour toll free number at (800) 664-1362, or you can visit www.streetrodderweb.com and sign up.)